


(we're) all out of love

by Dayun



Series: Everybody loves Wonpil [1]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, a sweet chaos ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), or should i say, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 17:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21140351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dayun/pseuds/Dayun
Summary: Jae, who has never had a soulmate, is best friends with Brian, who is already in love with the mere concept of soulmates.





	(we're) all out of love

**Author's Note:**

> Stream 'Sweet Chaos' guys!!!  
(yes, I used a few of the lyrics in the fic)

Jae has never thought much of soulmates. No matter what, everywhere you go you will see at least something about the topic. Be it movie posters, a random advertisement or a new song, there will be something about soulmates somewhere. And Jae is sick of it.

Sure, the movies were cute and the songs inspired by it were also good, but it’s just so much, it always feels like it’s being shoved right into his face, laughing at him.

Because unlike others, Jae has no soulmate.

He was born without any magical words etched into the skin of his wrist, no other to call his, no happy ending prepared just for him. But he’s okay with it, has come to terms with it. Unlike others he can write his own fate, and he much prefers it this way.

And then there’s Brian, his roommate and best friend who’s the exact opposite of him.

Brian, born with talent, looks, character and smartness. Brian, born with words written in a beautiful white that’s almost shimmering on the skin of his wrist. Brian, who loves the concept and everything else that comes with soulmates. Brian, who will look at least once a day at the words on his wrist with a love sick smile before kissing it.

When they had first met, Brian had given him a pitying look for his lack of words, which had immediately lead to a fight between them, because Jae didn’t need pity. If anyone was pitiful in his eyes, then it was those who ran after the concept of someone they didn’t even know.

They hadn’t been on good terms at the beginning, their world views just too different to mix. But then they ended up as roommates in the new dorm, and they ended up talking one evening when there was a blackout.

Brian had asked him how he can deal with the fact that there’s no one special waiting for him when the rest of the world is paired up already. Jae had told him how he likes being able to choose for himself, to find that certain someone on his own terms, and Brian had looked at him with a new light of respect. Then he had told him in return how he sometimes felt insecure about the person with the matching words to his. Afraid what they would think of him, what kind of person they were, and if maybe in the end they didn’t click after all.

From that point on their view of each other had changed and the animosity between them had vanished. And through Brian’s optimism even through all his insecurities, Jae’s bitter view on soulmates had changed into something filled with more respect. He has to agree, that there is something magical about it after all.

And that has been their dynamic since then; Jae and Brian, the best friends with one painfully in love with his soulmate and the other without one. They complement each other, both pessimistic and optimistic in different ways, always opening the other’s horizon farther.

And then came Wonpil.

It’s a Tuesday, Jae is lazily lying on their couch with the questionable stains that they got cheap from a former neighbour. He’s actively ignoring his responsibilities when the door to their dorm opens and Brian walks in with someone behind him.

That someone has brown wavy hair and slightly crossed eyes, and somehow Jae feels like it gives him the ability to see stars.

“Hey, Jae, this is Wonpil, my seatmate from that history class I told you about,” Brian tells him with a grin, wrapping an arm around Wonpil’s shoulders who blushes lightly in return.

After some bickering about how Brian has once again ignored the dishes while Wonpil watches them with wide eyes, the two vanished into Brian’s room and from Jae’s mind. It isn’t until evening when they emerge again to order some pizza that he interacts with Wonpil again.

Jae watches from across the table as they eat the pizza, how Brian leans in a bit too close towards Wonpil, how he throws an arm around the back of Wonpil’s chair and how the younger laughs about every joke that Brian makes, even the bad ones.

Jae watches it all with a raised eyebrow and only pats Brian’s shoulder good-naturedly once Wonpil has left. He doesn’t say anything else and doesn’t tease Brian about it.

From that day on Wonpil starts to come over to their small shared apartment more and more, and Brian starts to spend far more time with the younger than with Jae. Jae doesn’t mind though, because Wonpil is good company and unlike Brian he will actually do the dishes.

What he does mind a bit though, are the stolen glances and longing looks that Wonpil gives Brian. While he’s not especially close with Wonpil, he still doesn’t want the younger to get hurt.

Sure, Wonpil is pretty, very pretty, one of the prettiest people Jae has ever seen, with the softest eyes and the widest smile and gentlest voice. But Brian is also still Brian, and Brian loves his soulmate above all else.

He might have a fling with Wonpil, might date him for a short while or might just harbour a small crush. But Brian would never even entertain the idea of committing to someone else beside his soulmate. Not even for Wonpil, who has the kindest heart known to mankind and love far more than his small body can hold. Not for Wonpil, who has lost his soulmate before he even had the chance to meet them.

Jae’s heart had stuttered when he saw the faded grey words on Wonpil’s delicate skin for the very first time. He had apologized profusely when Wonpil had caught him staring, but the younger didn’t hide his wrist and didn’t glare at him, only gave him a small smile and told him it’s okay.

It’s not long after that they’re alone in the dorm once again when Brian has to do a quick grocery run, and the words just spill from Jae’s lips.

“Are you sad about the fact that you can never meet your soulmate?”

The question is out before Jae can even truly think about it and he’s about to apologize when Wonpil beats him to it.

“Of course I am, but I also feel like they gave me a parting gift,” Wonpil tells him softly with a small smile. “They gave me the chance to write my own fate.”

Wonpil’s smile is small and gentle and his eyes sad but filled with stars, and Jae feels his breath get stuck for a short second before his lungs fill until they almost burst.

There’s something shared between them in that moment as they look at each other, a mutual understanding between two people in a similar situation. And in that moment Jae feels his whole view of Wonpil change into a new light.

He starts to notice the younger more, be it on campus or in their apartment. He starts to understand Wonpil’s body language more, takes note of his small habits and expressions. It turns out that there is so much more to the younger than just his pretty smiles and soft voice.

Even when Jae notes that maybe Wonpil’s smile has gotten even prettier than before.

It’s not just a change in Wonpil Jae notices though.

Wonpil spends an unusual amount of time in the small apartment he shares with Brian, and he’s bound to notice things. He notices how Brian seems especially clingy towards Wonpil, how he will give in when the younger just as much as pouts, how his sharp eyes will turn soft when Wonpil laughs.

Jae also notices how Brian looks less and less at the words itched onto his wrist, how he stops giving it gentle kisses, until he stops giving attention to it all together.

Instead he starts texting Wonpil good night when he would usually say those words to the words on his wrist. Instead he starts giving Wonpil longing glances when he would usually look at his wrist.

So he’s not really surprised when he one day after university walks past Brian’s door, only to stop when he hears a by now familiar giggle. He glances through the slit that was left open to see his best friend and Wonpil leaning towards each other, their lips almost touching.

“My life, dream, future and everything have been changed,” Brian sings softly, leaning in even closer if possible, “But I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and the days that are changing.”

Jae watches them silently for a moment, the two smiling brightly at each other, before he wordlessly leaves them be.

It’s a few days after that Brian tells him that he and Wonpil are officially dating now. Brian’s smile is brighter than Jae has ever seen it, and that alone makes a genuine smile spread on his own face as he congratulates him. His good mood and grin stay until Wonpil comes over that evening, blushing prettily like always when Jae ruffles his hair in congratulations.

The younger bites his lip shyly as he smiles up at Jae, his round eyes curved and glimmering. Strangely enough, Jae feels his own smile falter at that.

Wonpil starts to spend even more time at their place if that’s even possible. Jae gets to witness Brian’s and Wonpil’s domesticity first hand; his best friend turns out to be even sappier than he expected, which says a lot. Jae and Wonpil bicker a lot, their personalities just too different as not to clash. He also wouldn’t say that they’re particularly close, but there’s a mutual understanding and respect between them, and Jae can appreciate that.

And he has to admit, the couple is cute, and Jae is proud of Brian. The younger is now living in a happiness he hadn’t believed possible before when he and Jae still used to argue about the topic of romantic relationships outside of soulmates. Brian has proven Jae’s beliefs true, that one can find happiness without their intended soulmate.

But somehow, Jae doesn’t feel like he’s won.

Instead now, when the sun has long gone down and the moon risen, when he can’t even hear Brian and Wonpil whispering sweet nothings to each other from behind the wall anymore, he now lies in his bed and looks at his empty wrist.

Sometimes he wonders what could have been; he wonders why he doesn’t have anyone for himself. What is it about him that has made him unsuitable to be someone’s soulmate?

Sometimes he wonders why Brian, the one who has it all, who has a soulmate and someone who will love him unconditionally outside of that as well, gets to have it all. Why not him?

These thoughts are always accompanied by the memories of a sweet smile and delicate hands, a soft voice saying his name oh so gently. The lightest touch on his wrist, grey faded words meeting blank skin.

These thoughts and images will vanish with the moon in the morning, when Jae will get up to face a brightly laughing Brian and a radiantly smiling Wonpil again.

And life goes on like this; Brian forgets about his soulmate all together as he gets lost in the depth of Wonpil’s gentle eyes, and Jae gets to be a witness to the process of it all. They spend a lot of time together, the three of them, and it’s good. Jae doesn’t mind that sometimes Brian and Wonpil get a bit too lost in each other, pressing kisses into their skin and sharing whispered words that Jae can’t hear. He will just silently get up and give them their privacy, receding into his own room unnoticed.

* * *

“Hey Brian, have you thought about what you’ll do when you meet your soulmate?” Jae asks Brian one evening that they’re watching some b-rated horror movie on the younger’s bed. Wonpil is back home for his sister’s birthday and Brian and him have decided to catch up on some good and overdue bro time.

Brian doesn’t turn towards him, but Jae doesn’t miss the small widening of his eyes and the short stutter of his hand as he reached for the popcorn. Since Brian and Wonpil have gotten together, they hadn’t talked about the topic of soulmates ever again. There’s an unspoken but palpable fragility to the air that comes with the topic, like the happiness they have built could break any moment.

“What will you tell Wonpil?” He asks into the silence of the room, the movie still playing loudly but mostly forgotten in the background.

Brian doesn’t meet his eyes as he keeps his gaze trained on the screen. “I’ll deal with it when the time comes,” is his only answer.

Jae studies his best friend for a few seconds, his straight nose and sharp eyes illuminated in the low light of the screen, before he also turns back to the movie.

He hopes that Brian won’t get hurt in the future, that he will make the right decision.

He hopes that Wonpil won’t get left behind once again.

* * *

The sun is shining brightly as Jae waits outside the café for Brian and Wonpil. It’s unusually warm for a late autumn day as Jae checks his phone, burying his other hand in the pocket of his hoodie. There are a few students mingling around and he tries to see if he can spot Wonpil and Brian between them.

“Jae-hyung!” A familiar cheery voice calls for him, and Jae looks to his left to see Brian and Wonpil walking towards him from down the street, holding hands. Wonpil waves happily, a bright smile on his face and Jae casually lifts his own hand in greeting as he puts his phone away again.

It’s only a few seconds, maybe even less, but it happens all in the span of time Jae needs to wave his own hand. A body runs quickly towards the couple, the girl clearly not looking where she’s going, and Jae sees it coming before it even happens.

The girl collides heavily with Brian who hadn’t even noticed her, too distracted by Wonpil’s cute smile to see her. They crash to the ground, ripping Wonpil’s and Brian’s hands apart as they fall.

Jae’s eyes widen and he quickly tries to weave through the students walking and mingling to reach his best friend. In turn Brian lets out a groan as he rubs the back of his head that’s pounding with a dull ache of pain from the fall.

Another groan comes from above him and he blinks one eye open to look at the weight on top of him. The girl that collided with and fell onto him gets up on her arms so Brian can also props himself up. He notices Wonpil kneeling down beside him, fussing about him and scrambling to get out a tissue to wipe off the coffee that had been apparently spilled onto him.

His attention is taken again though when the girl lets out a groan of frustration and brushes her long hair back.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I wa-Oh no, I even spilled my coffee on you!” She gasps when she spots the darkening spot on Brian’s button-up, her already big eyes going even wider.

Brian is a bit too distracted by her long lashes to really mind the dampness on his shirt though, and can only look back at her with a shocked expression.

“Hyung?” Wonpil asks him in a small voice, becoming confused by Brian’s silence.

The elder doesn’t pay him any mind though as he takes the girl’s wrist gently who looks back at him with equally wide eyes. “It’s actually you…” Brian says, sounding breathless, and the girl lets out another gasp, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes as she breaks out into a wide smile. “We finally meet.”

Jae watches the whole scene from a few feet away with wide eyes, unable to say anything. Then his gaze snaps to Wonpil and he feels cold at the sight. The younger’s eyes are also wide open, but instead he’s looking at the ground, gaze seemingly lost and body frozen as he kneels next to Brian. His small hand still holds onto the elder’s shirt tightly, as if not wanting to let go.

* * *

He doesn’t see Brian a lot the next few days, the younger always out with his soulmate, the two of them catching up and getting to know each other. He also doesn’t see Wonpil again after that fateful day, and he doesn’t know how to feel about it.

The apartment is unusually silent and empty, and Jae spends a lot of time just sitting on their couch, staring blankly at the blank TV screen. He knows for a fact that Brian and Wonpil also haven’t met up or talked again after that day. He doesn’t know where their relationship stands right now.

The sudden click of the door rips him out of his trance and he turns, expecting to see Brian walk in, possibly with his soulmate, Nayeon, to finally introduce her. Instead he’s surprised though when Wonpil walks in, having let himself in with the spare key Brian had given him three months ago.

The younger startles when Jae gets up from his seat on the couch, only noticing him then. Wonpil’s eyes are rimmed red, obviously from crying, and the hoodie he’s wearing is also too large to be his. Jae’s breath stutters when he notices that it’s actually one of his.

“Oh, I’m sorry Jae-hyung, I didn’t know you’d be here,” Wonpil whispers softly, his voice sounding hoarse, probably also from crying. “I’m just here to get my stuff, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

Strangely, Jae’s heart feels cold with the thought that Wonpil will leave again, and this time maybe indefinitely.

“No, it’s okay!” he scrambles to say, suddenly feeling unsure. “Why are you getting your stuff though?”

At the question Wonpil looks a bit uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact, and Jae feels bad, because the answer was already hanging in the room with Brian’s absence.

“Brian-hyung texted me, he wants to tell me something important tomorrow,” Wonpil says softly, his voice breaking at the last syllable and slowly growing quiet. “I-I think we know what that means.”

Wonpil’s small shoulders start to shake, his delicate and beautiful hands trembling, and before he knows it, Jae is already pulling the younger into his arms just as Wonpil breaks down on a sob.

He guides them slowly to sit on the floor where Wonpil clings onto him like a lifeline, crying pitifully into his shoulder. Jae rocks them back and forth soothingly, his own eyes wide and overwhelmed with the situation. Wonpil’s sobs and wails are heart-breaking and Jae can feel his chest tighten with every small and hurt noise the younger makes.

Delicate hands scramble and clutch at his arms almost desperately as Wonpil’s tears soak his sweater, and Jae can only hold him through it. It takes some time, but when Wonpil has calmed down a bit, the younger just leans into his chest, face buried in the taller’s arms, and they sit there like that.

Jae strokes Wonpil’s soft hair soothingly as he stares blankly at the wall once again. And for the first time in a long while, he curses the soulmate system again. He curses it for making Wonpil so miserable, for damning them to this loneliness.

“You know, I really thought I had the chance,” Wonpil whispers quietly, sniffling his nose. “I thought I had the chance to choose my own fate.”

He holds Wonpil tighter when he feels the smaller’s shoulders begin to tremble again. “And I really thought Brian was it for me,” he continues, sounding broken with every syllable, “But maybe I really did loose my chance with my soulmate, maybe I’m really meant to be alone forever.”

In turn Jae immediately shushes him when he hears those words, feeling his own eyes begin to sting. “Don’t say that, just don’t!” He reprimands Wonpil, cupping his cheek and guiding him to look up at him.

Wonpil’s eyes are wide and red, glistening with his tears and crushed dreams. Jae takes a deep breath, holds him closer, presses their hearts together.

“This pain you’re feeling is a gift. It comes with the gift of being able to choose freely,” he tells the smaller who looks at him like he’s holding the answers to the whole universe. “We’re given the chance to feel these emotions, to make these experiences on our own free will where others might not.”

Wonpil’s eyes start to glisten with gathering wetness once again, though this time they’re not shining from pain and are instead filled with the stars Jae has seen the first time they met. He feels something he hasn’t felt in his heart in a long time begin to soar again.

“We write our own fate, Wonpil,” he finishes softly, gently wiping away the tears that drip down Wonpil’s cheeks with his thumb.

He doesn’t really know what drives him to it, though deep in his heart he actually does, but he leans down slowly, one hand still cupping Wonpil’s cheek and the other wrapped around his small waist. And then all he knows is how right Wonpil’s lips feel against his. How his tears taste slightly salty yet sweet, how soft he is to the touch and how lovely the small sighs Wonpil makes sound as they kiss.

The kiss is chaste and sweet and short, and when they pull back, Wonpil leans his head on his shoulder as Jae props up his chin on the smaller’s head, holding onto each other.

When he opens his eyes again a few hours later, the sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon. Wonpil is lying in his arms, still clutching onto his sweater as they lie on his bed. He doesn’t really remember how they made it to his room, but he doesn’t think further about it as he tightens his hold on the smaller.

“You’re right, hyung, we write our own fate,” Wonpil whispers softly, apparently also awake as he plays with the strings of Jae’s sweater. His voice is still scratchy from all the crying, though now there is a certain kind of calmness, and dare he say it, content to it.

In turn Jae cards through the younger’s soft locks gently and Wonpil nuzzles further into the space beneath his chin.

He watches the sun rise silently, a serene kind of content settling in his chest with Wonpil in his arms. Then his eyes fall to his wrist and widen when he sees a pair of unfamiliar words that haven’t been there before etched onto his pale skin.

"Yeah," He swallows, carefully pulling down his sleeve to hide the words before he tightens his arms around Wonpil.

“We write our own fate.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if Brian was a bit of a douche at the end. I originally had another end planned, but then I decided that this was more fitting and will save the other end for another story. Because as you might know, I'm starting a series about Wonpil centered love-triangles/threesomes. So if you have and story ideas or prompts, hit me up!
> 
> ANYWAY SWEET CHAOS OMG  
The MV and song just wrecked me. Also the whole album is just so good and Dowoon's cute yawn in 'Emergency' and actual lines in '365247'???? SO GOOD  
What was your favourite song? I can't decide yet.
> 
> twitter @CountvonZahl | CuriousCat @KDayun | tumblr @K-Dayun


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